


brittle, break

by glorious_clio



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Angst, F/M, Gen, Hot Chocolate, Hoth, May the 4th, Snowball Fights, esb is my favorite, tauntauns smell bad on the outside, when will it stop snowing, who's idea was this anyway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2020-02-21 14:57:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18704647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glorious_clio/pseuds/glorious_clio
Summary: They’re not on Hoth very long, but Leia stands still long enough for it to leave an impression on her.A very cold sort of impression.





	brittle, break

**Author's Note:**

> Months ago, in the grip of yet another polar vortex (or as I call it, _winter_ ), mrstater teasingly suggested I should write a Hoth fic. Evidently, I found that idea irresistible. This turned out much longer than I expected, but then, it didn’t stop snowing until recently. I’m happy with how it turned out, and was happier still with mrstater agreed to beta it for me. Any mistakes remain my own. 
> 
> Time for a cup of hot cocoa and some Hoth adventures! Happy May the Fourth!

_Did you know, darling girl, that the hydrogen bonds in water molecules strengthen as they freeze, which is how ice is formed? It’s one of the few molecules to grow stronger under such conditions. Most everything else gets more fragile...._

Leia snapped awake, freezing in her chamber--if one could call this little bunk a chamber, dug out of the snow and ice on Hoth. Literally; the advance teams drilled into a glacier, but were unable to penetrate the permafrost.

Echo Base, aptly named. Why she was dreaming of her father’s voice now, on Hoth, three years after she lost nearly everything, Leia couldn’t say.

Shivering, she reluctantly pulled herself out of her thermal sleeping bag, sliding straight into her boots so her stockinged feet wouldn’t touch the icy floor. There was a thin layer of flooring in here, as well all the dorms, community lounges, and freshers, but it was barely livable. Only the medbay was truly warm.

Leia pulled on her coat over her shoulders and began undressing and redressing her basic layers under it. Once she was covered, she peeled back the coat and added her outer, waterproof layers, creating seals where-ever she could. The all-white gear helped camouflage her rebel cell, but most people were calling it the Organa fatigues. She wasn’t supposed to know, and it wasn’t supposed to be a compliment.

Fine, she was cold. She could live with that.

Echo Base was only a week old, and there was so much to do. The Alliance was almost getting good at re-establishing bases in less-than-ideal circumstances. It was all they’d been doing lately. The Empire was becoming efficient at tracking them down. But Hoth was a million parsecs from nowhere; Leia and Carlist hoped to create a decent base of operations here, despite its challenges.

The cold made it hard to do much of anything. It routinely broke down their equipment.

“Another blizzard,” Luke had commented about the storm just yesterday.

“It’s not a blizzard,” Leia had replied. “The storm won’t maintain the necessary wind speeds.” When he didn’t respond, she looked up to see his face look horrified. “I’m just glad it warmed up enough to snow,” she’d said, trying to soften the blow.

But when it warmed up, it snowed, thick and wet and _heavy_. One of the Pathfinders had thrown out his back trying to move it and had to be evacuated to one of their hospital ships for treatment.

She stopped by the mess hall, grabbed a ration bar and filled her thermo-mug with caf, talking to no one, before hurrying to the Command Center.

“Leia! Hey, Leia!”

She spun around, the first smile of her day ghosting across her lips. Only one voice here was that green, despite three years of heroics and a command of his own. “Yes, Luke?”

They stepped out of the middle of the corridor.

“You know how the weather’s been too cold for even our snowspeeders?”

As if she could forget. “Tell me you solved the problem,” she said, pulling her datapad out of her deep pocket.

“Um, not exactly, but.... Wedge, Dak and I managed to capture some tauntauns. We think we can saddle them and ride them while we scout the area.”

Leia blinked slowly. “You... domesticated them?”

“I mean, I wouldn’t call them tame, but I used to corral wild banthas on Tatooine....” His hand went to the nape of his neck, a tick, even if the scarf he wore got in the way.

She snorted and shook her head. “You better show me.”

Hoth had been Luke’s idea. He’d never seen snow before, and when they were making their final (hasty) decision about where to go next, Commander Skywalker happened to be in Command with Leia and Carlist.

She followed this desert boy through Echo Base and, pulling up scarves and tugging down hats, they stepped outside in to the ice world.

“Over here,” Luke yelled above the rising wind, the cold already making him shiver. They went to a makeshift paddock where five miserable looking (and smelling) creatures lowed pathetically.

Luke vaulted the rickety fence and in a few minutes was up on the back of the largest creature.

“See?!” he yelled again.

Leia nodded, then tilted her head back at the door. Luke got the message.

Out of the wind, but not much warmer for it, Leia picked up her mug of caf that she had left inside. “Pretty good solution for now, Luke.” She took a sip to find it had already gone unbearably cold. “I’ll tell General Rieekan. But we’ll have to figure out what they eat, how to keep them alive. I’ll keep you posted.”

“Thanks, Leia,” he said.

“And go get some caf.”

His face puckered. “I hate that stuff.”

“Fine. Something hot, at least.”

He nodded and waved her off.

There was more caf to be had in the Command Center, not good caf, but hot at least. Leia refilled her mug and went to find find Carlist.

“Skywalker’s found a temporary solution to our patrol problem,” she said, standing next to him.

He was rubbing sleep out of his eyes. “And?”

“Tauntauns, apparently, can be ridden.”

He grimaced. “Don’t ask me to do it. Those things reek from a mile away.”

Leia chuckled. “We’ll make Skywalker train them. I’ll see if we can be supplied with any saddles.”

“That’s one problem solved, but I just got word that the water-lines have frozen again. Maintenance is flushing the ice out now,” Carlist informed her.

“Sounds about right.” Leia sighed.

They only had sonic showers that no one was using enough. No one was in a hurry to undress fully. The tauntauns weren’t the only creatures that were a little rank. But the pipelines to the kitchens and the various drinking stations had been an ongoing problem; this was the third time they’d had to be flushed.

“Go get some sleep, General,” she said. “I’ll monitor the situation, and speak to maintenance about solutions when they’ve finished clearing the lines and had something to eat.” Leia bumped her shoulder into his.

“Thanks. Wake me if you need anything.”

She nodded, then approached Major Toryn Farr, the Chief Communications Officer on duty.

“Major Farr, can you connect us to Home One? I need to send a message to Mon Mothma.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the other woman replied. She keyed in the access code and the proper salutation, scrambling the message.

Leia sat beside her for a moment. “How are you finding Hoth? Is any of your equipment failing?” She took a sip of caf, swallowing the bitter beverage without grimacing.

“Everything seems to be fine, General. A bit cold, though.”

Leia snorted derisively. “Yeah. But Skywalker thinks we can ride tauntauns, so that’s something.”

Farr laughed. “I’d like to see you ride one, General.”

“Let’s see about getting some saddles first. And who knows what else... reins? Probably reins.”

“Tack, I believe is the all-encompassing word,” Farr added. At Leia’s curious look, she added, “My parents let me have Fathier riding lessons for my twelfth birthday.” She smiled at the memory.

“Do you want to help Commander Skywalker?” Leia asked.

Farr shuddered. “Absolutely not. I smell bad enough.”

They received a reply from Home One, and Leia left Major Farr to make the arrangements. She had to check up on some meteor activity.

 

* * *

 

 

The tack arrived at the end of week two, courtesy of a generous ally of Mon Mothma, and Rogue Squadron immediately got to work with training the five tauntauns in their paddock. Luke and Dak even captured several more, bringing their herd to twelve, enough for each member of Rogue Squadron.

They promised more for patrols; Mothma had sent twenty-four sets. She also sent tinted snow goggles to protect their eyes from snow blindness. A few folks temporarily lost their vision and had to spend several days in the medbay resting their eyes until their vision returned. Leia cursed herself for not remembering this risk beforehand, causing unnecessary pain to others.

Mon Mothma also sent a large supply of hot chocolate that Leia had not asked for.

“Don’t look at me,” Carlist said when they reviewed manifests together. “It’s probably Mon’s way of keeping up morale.”

It was incredibly welcome. Even though most still drank caf for the stimulant, a lot of folks liked to unwind with the hot chocolate after their shifts. Luke drank it exclusively.

“This stuff is amazing!” he raved to Leia. “Can we have it all the time?”

She toasted her thermomug to his. “I’ll do what I can.”

It was nice that he could see the bright side of this frozen adventure, but it would take a lot more than hot chocolate to make her feel less miserable. Of all the things, the cold, the snow, the frozen pipes, the speeders that _still_ refused to work, Leia hated the salt underfoot.

It was to keep people from slipping in the corridors and the hangars, but the salt found a way to stain their snow fatigues even whiter, it kicked up and got in the snowspeeders that still didn’t want to work. It made this frozen wasteland even more sterile and bleached, somehow. It crunched into the ice, there were no silent footfalls.

It reminded her of Crait.

 _Dantooine_ she’d told Tarkin, Vader. Couldn’t even give up the base her father had abandoned. Dantooine had been a different cell altogether, also empty.

Her breath seemed to stop in her chest, and she had to get away from her thoughts. Outside, there was no salt. Lowering her goggles and wrapping her scarf around her face, every inch of exposed skin covered and sealed in waterproof layers, she stepped outside. Into an unauthorized battle: personnel from all over the base were fighting tooth and nail for territory to claim. But Leia was born to fight; she dropped into the nearest foxhole.

“Luke, Wedge. What are we up against?”

“Half of Rogue Squadron is out there,” Wedge replied, “plus two thirds of the maintenance crew.”

“I hit Dak in the face with one,” Luke said sheepishly. “He’s in the medbay with a bloody nose.”

Leia laughed and began making more snowballs. “Okay, let’s figure out a way to take them out....”

The storied battle of Echo Base lasted at least twenty more minutes, with the honorable sanitation crew taking the day. Everyone was glad to concede defeat if it meant going inside for the heavy meals that were served on this base. Lots of starches, proteins, root vegetables; surviving here took calories, even without epic snowball fights to tire them out.

Leia didn’t go back in immediately. Adrenaline pumped through her as she stood outside, watching the sunset across the ice. It was so bright, and she considered her younger self, listening to her father telling her that every snowflake was unique and special, just like every life was unique and special. There were so many flakes here, and so few lives. She turned away from the memories and watched the wind gusts pick up the flakes and push them around. The cold hurt, the wind was a bully.

“Here you are,” a gruff voice said behind her.

“I’m coming, Han,” she said. She turned.

He waited for her to reach him at the door, taking in what she was seeing. “It’s kinda pretty,” he allowed. “It’d be better if it wasn’t trying to kill us.”

Leia shrugged. She didn’t smile; he wouldn’t have been able to see if she did, since her mouth was still covered.

“Come on,” he said, taking her hand. She couldn’t feel it.

_She couldn’t feel it._

Leia gave him the brush off inside, then made her own slow and steady way to the medbay, peeling off her gloves with her teeth. Sure enough, her fingertips were bright red, too red to be natural or healthy for someone with her skin tone. She hoped Han had dragged her inside in time, before any permanent damage was done. How could she be so stupid, Hoth was doing nothing for her intelligence. She’d been wearing mittens over her gloves, but they hadn't been ideal for making snowballs so had pocketed them. For _snowballs_.

And now Leia stood at the threshold of the medbay, not eager to submit to the droids.

“Looks like I found you just in time.”

Han again.

“You better not be here to gloat, Solo,” she bit out.

He reached down to gently grasp her wrists and pull them up to his eye level. “It looks pretty superficial. You’re lucky.”

“Oh yes, how fortunate. Frostbite.”

“Come on, let’s get it taken care of,” he said bracingly.

“I don’t need your help,” she snapped and marched in.

She wasn’t afraid, she told herself as the droid sat her down, took her temp, injected her with antivirals and a painkiller, then told her to put her fingers in a basin of warm bacta diluted in water. Not too hot, nothing to damage the tissues.

“You will remain here for thirty minutes, after which we will evaluate the damage. Please keep your hands moving as much as possible while they are submerged.”

“I understand,” she told the droid. It set an internal timer and hovered away.

Leia tried to relax, closing her eyes to the sights of the medbay. This was _her_ medbay, she thought possessively, not anyone else’s. It was warm, even marginally comfortable, and there was no one to pry secrets from her mind. She wiggled her fingers in the warm water. Her hands felt like they were full of pins and needles as the blood flow increased.

Her comm beeped, but she didn’t dare take her hands out of the water mixture. It beeped again, and again, and again. Maybe she shouldn’t have dismissed Han. Maybe Threepio could come answer it for her. Her protocol droid, but also Luke’s. Somehow. It didn’t bear thinking about, because it didn’t seem strange to share anything with him, including a pair of droids. The comm stopped beeping.

Leia opened her eyes when the door to the med-bay _snicked_ open, and Carlist rushed in, his forehead all furrows and a glare in his eyes. He wasn’t a man known for smiling, but now, Leia almost flinched.

“What have you _done_?”

Leia kept her fingers moving in the water. “Nothing permanent.”

“Frostbite? From a snowball fight? What on earth made you think a snowball fight on Hoth was a good idea. Next, why don’t you take everyone sledding!”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Leia clipped out.

“And didn’t you feel your hands getting cold? You’re too old to think complaining of the cold will bring down the wrath of the Frost King.”

“Alderaani fairy tales? I’m not a child!”

“Then you should be old enough to realize the dangers of this weather!”

“I did everything right. I came here as soon as I realized!”

“Have you been checked? Your face looks fine, but your feet?”

“I can feel all ten toes, Carlist! Now stop fussing over me! I’m _fine_!”

She wished she could prove it to him, but her fingers couldn’t leave the water for another ten minutes.

“You’re clearly not! With your hand in a bowl of hot water, in a med-bay. You hate med-bays!”

As if she didn’t feel foolish enough already. “Kindly leave my past trauma out of this! This has nothing to do with it, and I’m hardly the first frostbite case on this iceball!”

“You are meant to be setting an example. That’s what a command is, as someone of your rank ought to know.”

Ah, so that was it, an admission, a reminder at her varied ties, and how very dangerous it was to be so young with so much on her shoulders. She dropped into her coldest Princess voice, to remind him of her other rank. “And you’re going to protect me, General Rieekan? In the middle of a Rebellion base? The price on my head is higher than yours.”

“You are the last of Alderaan,” he faltered. “You can’t-”

“Enough!” she couldn’t resist splashing a little water at him. It splattered on his waterproof jacket, but he didn’t seem to notice. “Enough. Your concern is noted, but misplaced. I will be at one hundred percent before my next shift.”

“Is that a dismissal?” he nearly growled.

She shrugged, leaned back and closed her eyes.

Leia heard him huff, and then the door open and close again. She kept moving her fingers. Carlist Rieekan, of Crevasse City, he’d been off-planet when Alderaan was destroyed. So many so-called survivors of her homeworld had secretly taken it upon themselves to protect her, and she wished they wouldn't. She was no more important than any other Alderaanian.

The childish accusations had hurt too. She’d never believed in the Frost King, a folkloric character who snatched up children for complaining of the cold. Highly proud, winter was his domain. Unlike the Frost King, Leia could tolerate criticism. But few could accuse of her of being too young, of not being ready for command, when it was well known she escaped Vader’s torture chamber and commanded at the Battle of Yavin alongside Dodonna.

She’d have to talk to Carlist again when he calmed down, when they’d both gotten over this minor incident. It would be a good chance to practice her diplomacy skills.

She tapped the bottom of the basin with her fingernails.

When its timer went off minutes later, the meddroid scanned her fingers and declared them well enough for her to go back to work. There was no deep tissue damage; her skin didn’t even blister. It wrapped Leia’s fingers individually and warned her to keep them very warm to protect them. She slid the bandaged fingers into her mittens. It also gave her a tube of healing cream, bacta and aloe and a warming chemical for topical application.

“Don’t worry, I hope you won’t see me in here again.”

She wasn’t on duty for another twelve standard hours, and she knew she should be resting, but she felt weirdly charged from her confrontation with Carlist. Now was probably not the best time to approach him, so instead she made her way to the _Falcon_ , which was in various pieces as Han and Chewie patched her back together after the Ord Mantell mission went a bit sour.

Another thing to feel guilty for, though Han didn’t blame her or Luke. It was all the bounty hunter’s fault, who wanted the credits that the four of them were worth. Still, she and Luke hadn’t been in his custody very long before they fought their way out. Han and Chewie even managed to time their backup perfectly.

“Sorry old girl,” she whispered to the ship as she walked up the ramp.

Leia followed the noises back to the engine bay, to find Chewie on his knees fussing with the wiring in the walls.

“Hey Chewie,” she said. “I’d offer to help, but...” She held up her mittened hands. “I don’t have any dexterity right now.”

“ _Han told me_ ,” he said. “ _This is why it’s better to be a Wookiee._ ” He held up his own hands.

Leia laughed at the thick fur. “I won’t argue with that. Where’s Han? I don’t want to interrupt what you’re doing.”

“ _He’s trying to trade some of our better parts for things we actually need to get out of here_.” Chewie replied. “ _I should take a break though. This is all starting to look the same_.” He pulled himself to his feet and rested a hand on the top of her head. “ _Drink?_ ”

Echo Base was officially a dry base, but Leia knew better. Still, twelve hours...

“One won’t hurt,” she agreed.

They talked lightly over the Corellian ale Chewie had opened (she was surprised they didn’t have anything stronger, actually) until the conversation turned to the Rebellion and Leia’s not so secret goal of making them stay with her.

“ _Be fair to us, Leia. We have a price on our heads_.”

“More or less than the price on mine?”

“ _Sure, but the Hutts aren’t the Empire. When you win your war, yours will go away._ ”

“I like your confidence in my abilities,” Leia said, gently toasting the Wookiee. “But that doesn’t mean I have to like the idea of you two leaving. I’ve gotten used to having the pair of you moon jockeys around.”

“Because we protect you from frostbite?” Han asked from the doorway.

“I actually came to thank you for that,” Leia said, a small smile crossing her lips. She held up her mittened hands again. “I have to keep them warm, but there’s no permanent damage.”

Han nodded and padded to the refrigeration unit for a Corellian ale. Opening the bottle, he settled at the table next to Chewie.

No one quite knew what to say next. Leia took another sip of her ale and glanced at her wrist chrono. Eleven and a half hours until she was on duty.

“So... what parts did you trade my rebel cell for?”

Han snorted a laugh. “Not much on this hunk of ice, sweetheart. But I managed to get a new pressure relief valve for our coolant systems. And a few other bits and bobs.”

“Anything I’ll need to replace?”

“All was above-board trading, Princess, I don’t think you’ll have to ask the Alliance for anything.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’ll still have to check with the quartermaster, Han.”

“Your speeders aren’t even flying yet. I don’t think it’ll be a problem.”

She set her ale down. Chewie rumbled something about the display lights in the cockpit and fled quickly.

“I’ll decide what’s a problem, _Captain_ Solo.”

He leaned back in the booth easily, an insouciant grin crossing his face. “I’m sure you will. I’m just saying, you’re fine, _General_.”

This did little to calm her. Rather, Leia felt her pulse rise.

“You’re such a pirate, Han. We need everything we have. And you only care about getting away from here, no matter what kind of mess you leave in your wake.”

He laughed as she rushed to her feet and marched away, back down the ramp, across the gritty bay and to her freezing chambers. Irritated by two confrontations today. Two too many.

She should at least try and get some sleep though she didn’t like sleeping these days, or at least work up her courage to take a sonic shower.

In the end, Luke found her with more hot chocolate. She let him chatter at her for an hour or so before she decided she was tired enough to try for sleep.

It was another rocky night with dreams of her father.

“ _Most everything else gets more fragile...._ ” he echoed.

It wasn’t very helpful. She couldn’t be fragile right now, she had to be the water molecules. Hard and cold and unyielding. She couldn’t think what he wanted her to bond with.

The next morning, Leia still had no idea what she was going to say to Carlist, and pondered as she tried to work her way into her layers (impeded by the bandages on her hands).

Dressed, and with her datapad shoved in her pocket, she opened the door to Carlist, holding two giant mugs of caf.

“Oh, I was just going to find you,” Leia said, her initial surprise melted away as her princess-ness took over.

“Caf?”

“Thank you,” she said, stepping through the door before receiving a mug. Alderaani superstitions - that touching hands across a threshold will lead to a fight - were to be avoided, since that’s what they were ostensibly fighting about.

“How are your hands, Your Grace?” He used her correct style. Only people who hadn’t been raised on Alderaan slipped into ‘Your Highness.’ She’d had learned to live with it; it was hard to break the habit, and they were trying to be respectful. Usually.

“Fully healed, the bandages are a precaution. I promise to take more care going forward.”

“I’m sorry I... lost my head,” Carlist said.

“I’m sorry I lost my temper.” She took a sip of the caf, hot and surprisingly not over-brewed.

“Do you remember the Empire Day Blizzard?” Carlist rapidly changed the subject.

Leia was happy for the shift. “It was my fourth birthday. Wedge romped with me and my father in the palace gardens. I’d never seen him so happy as when my mother put a blanket cancellation on the planned festivities.”

“I’m glad they weren't in trouble for that,” Carlist said. “I spent the day with my nieces. Their parents were trapped in orbit, unable to land. We went sledding, built three snowmaidens, and retired inside for popped corn and hot chocolate.” His voice caught in his throat and Leia rested her hand on his shoulder.

She didn’t need to ask the fate of his nieces.

“I hope none of them got frostbite that day,” she said instead.

He offered a watery chuckle, the sound delicate in the corridor.

“Go get some rest, General. It’s my command for the next shift.”

“Yes, Your Grace. Thank you.”

She smiled gamely as she dismissed him. Memories of Alderaan cut like the coldest wind.

Leia made her way to Command, her mittened hands shoved deep into her pockets, lost in thought of that fourth birthday. She was exactly the same age as the Galactic Empire, and her private birthday celebrations were overshadowed by ostentatious and mandatory shows of loyalty.

But no longer.

 

* * *

 

 

The next shipments had engine antifreeze. While the mechanics tinkered with the snowspeeders, they suddenly had a flurry of unexpected meteorites; the geologist on staff suggested a nearby asteroid field, a sudden shift in gravitational pulls.

But just in case, Leia and Carlist decided to err on the side of caution and scan the meteorites. Rogue Squadron and Han Solo of all people went out to place sensors around the perimeter of where their shield would be, as soon as that was up and running.

She was in the Command Center with Major Farr, monitoring the patrol’s comms when Han reported in. She heard him from across the room, his voice pitched in that earnest way he had. She didn’t even try to stop herself from turning.

Carlist didn’t have much patience in this moment, however. “Solo.” It wasn’t personal; no one could attract his attention for long since the mystery of the crashing meteors.

Han took the opening, knowing he was unlikely to receive a better one. “No sign of life out there, General. Sensors are in place. You’ll know if anything comes around."

“Commander Skywalker reported in yet?”

“No, he's checking out a meteorite that hit near him,” Han replied.

Carlist Rieekan was only half-listening. He gestured toward the screen he was working from. “With all the meteor activity in this system, it's going to be difficult to spot approaching ships.”

And then Han said, “General, I gotta leave, I can’t stay anymore.”

Leia felt a rush of emotion that she didn’t particularly want to have. Was he addressing the General who was listening, or the one who wasn’t? She didn’t break her stare.

This got through to Carlist, though. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

Han explained what Command already knew. “Well there's a price on my head. If I don't pay off Jabba the Hutt, I'm a dead man.”

“A death mark is not an easy thing to live with. You’re a good fighter, Solo, I hate to lose you.”

“Thank you General.” He nodded at Carlist and actually crossed the few steps to Leia.

His voice was still pitched low, still earnest, but seeking something now, perhaps her blessing. “Well Your Highness, I guess this is it.”

She was not in the mood to grant him anything. If he was leaving, it would be with the weight of her stare and nothing more. “That’s right.”

His face shifted, his voice got higher, rougher, mocking. “Don't get all mushy on me. So long, Princess.”

He practically ran out of the Command Center, down the corridor.

She had no idea what compelled her to follow, but no one blinked at her leaving. Carlist didn’t even look up, so engrossed was he in the meteors. Like she should be.

And yet.

“Han!” she demanded of his retreating back.

He turned. “Yes, Your Highness-ness?”

“I thought you’d decided to stay.” It wasn’t a question.

“That bounty hunter we ran into on Ord Mantell changed my mind.” His tone was light, fighting for carelessness.

But that had been weeks ago, now. Confused, she changed tactics, trying to get him on the defense. “Han, we need you.”

“ _We_ need?” He leaned in close, his voice dropping.

“Yes.” She spoke clearly. Her whole being was screaming for him to stay. She wanted to reach out, to grab, but she kept her arms by her sides.

“What about _you_ need?” he asked.

“ _I_ need,” she repeated blankly, before the words caught up with her. “I don't know what you’re talking about.” She would take a step back, only the corridor was small.

“You probably don’t,” he said, his voice again pitched in that mocking way. He strode off again, his long legs quickly putting distance between them.

She bristled. “And what precisely am I supposed to know?” She rushed after him.

Han turned, and she closed the gap. “Come on! You want me to stay because of the way you feel about me.”

“Yes! You’re a great help to us! You’re a natural leader!” Her heart was pounding, _stay stay stay._

“No!” He pointed at her, demanding. “That’s not it. C’mon.” He pointed to himself now.

A younger recruit walked by, they leaned away from him as he stepped between them. Leia didn’t blame him, they _were_ blocking the corridor.

“Ah! Come on!” Han prodded.

Something clicked, and she understood what he meant, the low earnest voice, the reason he tagged along. “You're imagining things,” she delivered the news in her most imperial tones.

Han wasn’t convinced, it seemed. “Am I? Then why are you following me? Afraid I was going to leave without giving you a goodbye kiss?”

“I'd just as soon kiss a wookiee.”

Confusingly, he stormed off again, shouting. “I can arrange that! You could use a good kiss.”

And he was gone. She didn’t follow this time, though she wanted to. Every part of her knew he had to stay. Near her. She only made sense anymore with him and Luke and Chewie. So what if she couldn’t say it aloud? It wouldn’t keep them here.

Instead, she stormed back to her quarters, comming Carlist to let him know she was taking the break she skipped two hours ago. He barely answered her.

She was looking for a respite, and there was none to be found.

Outside her chamber, she found Threepio and Artoo bickering. She nodded at them, intending to dismiss them. As she reached for the hand scanner, Threepio stopped her.

“Mistress Leia, I’m so sorry, but you cannot enter until maintenance arrives to fix your room.”

“Um. Why?”

Artoo twittered a string of obscenities directed at Threepio, who responded to the astromech first. “I have already told you that it wasn’t _my_ fault that you misunderstood me. Though you claim to understand basic, you only _speak_ binary! Why I was given an astromech as a counterpart, I really don’t know. Perhaps we need to get your translation center checked.”

“What did you do? Both of you.”

“Well, I mentioned that your room seemed especially chilly today, and Artoo must have misinterpreted, and turned up the thermoheater and....”

“How much water?” Leia rubbed her temples, exhausted.

“Six inches, but now we’ve turned the heat down, so...” Threepio admitted.

“So it’s ice?” Six inches of ice on her chamber floor.

Artoo chirped helpfully; Leia translated it as “More like slush!”

She nearly laughed. It seemed like the next logical part of her day, somehow. How would maintenance get the door open? Thank goodness everyone’s boots were waterproof.

“Fine. Perfect. Just perfect. Don’t do anything else until maintenance gets here.” Maybe she’d wipe their memories. But then, they remembered Alderaan, so she knew she never would. “I’m going back to Command.”

More bad news was waiting for her there. Luke still hadn’t returned, and he’d been out in the elements for so long that it would push him, his cold weather gear, and his tauntaun to their collective limits.

Swallowing her pride, she tried to comm Han.

And tried. And tried. And then sent him the droids that were in her bad books. He could snarl at them instead of her. By the time they returned to her, Han had gone out after Luke.

“I just wanted his advice!” Leia raged.

“Well you know, mistress, he is a rash sort of person-”

“Enough! I’m going to the hangar.”

“Shall Artoo and I accompany you?”

“Do whatever you want,” she said, pushing her body out of Command, not caring who was watching as she reached her limits.

They waited for hours. Leia would wait for days, if it came to that. But she prayed it wouldn’t. They needed to come back to her. She paced, and Chewie watched her, just as worried for Luke and Han. They were in this together, this waiting game. When she rested, it was next to him. She longed to burrow into his fur, but didn’t want to offend this great warrior, hero of the Clone Wars.

Artoo was scanning near the shield doors; like Leia and Chewie, the little blue droid was unwilling to give up. Carlist joined her after a time, but wisely didn’t attempt to chat.

Finally, a younger pilot rushed up to Carlist. “Sir, all the patrols are in. Still no contact from Skywalker or Solo.”

Carlist tried to hush the young man, but voices echoed through hangar bays.

Threepio was, as always, quick to add his interpretation. “Mistress Leia, Artoo says he’s been quite unable to pick up any signals, although he does admit that his own range is far too weak to abandon all hope.”

Leia nodded, and Carlist came near, to deliver the blow himself.

“Your Grace, there’s nothing more we can do tonight. The shield doors must be closed.”

“I understand.”

Carlist turned to the young pilot, clearly the deck officer. “Close the doors.”

“Yessir.”

Chewie let out a long, mournful howl; Leia’s heart would make the same noise if it were able.

“Artoo says the chances of survival are seven hundred twenty-seven to one,” Threepio offered.

The shield doors closed with an echoing boom. Leia tried not to think of them as final.

“Actually, Artoo has been known to make mistakes... from time to time,” Threepio concluded.

“I do have some good news. The snowspeeders should be ready in the morning. They'll make the search easier.”

Leia nodded. “That’s not much comfort tonight, Carlist.”

“I know, but there's a chance. They have a shelter. It's not much, but....”

Carlist left for Command. They had a busy morning ahead of them.

“Threepio, is there any update on my bed?” Leia sat heavily next to Chewie again. He growled in question, and she said, “These two melted the walls, I don’t know if I have a bed tonight.”

Threepio checked on the comms. “I’m afraid not, Mistress, but may I suggest Master Luke’s bunk?”

Leia shook her head.

Chewie wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “ _The Falcon is warmer,_ ” he told her.

She nodded. The bunks in there were at least marginally comfortable. It would be a long night of little sleep.

 

* * *

 

 

Dawns on Hoth were bright and cold, unless a blizzard raged. But today the winter light shone brilliantly off the snow. The pilots’ goggles would protect them from snow blindness as they began their search. Spirits were high, which raised Leia’s hopes. Rogue Squadron was glad to be in flight, instead of on tauntaun.

It seemed like everyone not flying was crammed into Command, holding their breath, listening to the comms that Major Farr so kindly amplified.

Leia knew every call sign as they hailed each other, Rogues two through twelve. Luke was Rogue Leader, Rogue One was taken, and they all swore that they flew with them. Leia wasn’t one to judge. Yavin’s victory literally came on their wings. They deserved the honor.

They kept the chatter to a minimum, when Rogue Two -- Zev Senesca -- cut through the static.

“Echo Base - I've got something! Not much but it could be a life form.” He had an odd cadence to his Basic, traces of his Krestic Station homeworld.

He cut to another channel to hail whatever caught his attention.

And then, “Echo Base, this is Rogue Two. I found them, Repeat, I found them.”

Relief and delight rolled across the entire room, but as one, the medical staff rose and scrambled for the medbay. This would be much more severe than her frostbite.

Leia rushed to the hangar bay. Zev brought in Luke, crammed into his gunner’s seat and not bothering to wait for help out in the field. Han had stayed behind to wait for another transport and to pack up the survival gear.

Leia hung back, out of the way, as they pulled Luke out of the cockpit as gently and swiftly as possible, stripping him down and covering him in heated blankets before rushing him to the medbay. He looked so pale and limp, he wasn’t even conscious. He was muttering words Leia couldn’t hear, but she didn’t dare get closer, her medic skills were adequate but he had real doctors working on him now.

Leia waited for Han. She paced with Chewie to pass the time, but it wasn’t long, only twenty minutes or so, by her wrist-chrono.

“How are you?” she asked as he pulled himself out of Wedge’s snowspeeder. Her voice was tight; she could feel her throat closing out of fear for Luke.

“I don’t even think I have frostbite,” Han replied. His words were teasing, but his mouth was tight. She could feel cold and exhaustion pouring off of him. The bag of emergency equipment was slouched by his feet where he dropped it.

“Well you’re getting looked over anyway,” Leia informed him.

“On whose orders?”

“ _Mine_ ,” growled Chewie, coming up beside them.

Leia nodded, her lip curled up in a smirk. Beat that, Han, she thought.

Han put up his hands in defeat, and the three followed Luke to the medbay.

Leia paced outside as they looked the men over, Chewie right by her side. Waiting was absolute agony, and she couldn’t think of anything else to distract her.

Finally a doctor came out to give her an update. “General Organa. We’ve induced a coma for Commander Skywalker, to ease his distress and kickstart the healing. That he’s alive at all is a credit to Captain Solo finding him in time to prevent hypothermia overnight.”

“But a coma!”

The doctor nodded and went on. “It’s the best thing for him. He’s in bacta now, hooked up to oxygen, getting nutrients, and rehydrating. We’ll bring him back slowly so not to shock his system too badly. His core temperature has already risen three degrees. He’ll likely pull through, and the bacta will also start healing the cuts on his face.”

“What are the cuts from?” Leia asked. “Did the cold split his skin, somehow?”

“Unlikely. I’m sure the Commander will have quite a story for us when he recovers. He was found a click and a half away from his final perimeter check. Possibly there was a run-in with a Wampa.”

Leia nodded. “And Han?”

“Is just fine, ma’am. He’s getting dressed now. You’re welcome to come, er, visit? Commander Skywalker. But we won’t start bringing him out of it for several hours.”

“No. But comm me when it’s time to wake him, I’d like to be there. You may offer the same to Captain Solo. I’m relieved both appear to be alright. You and your team do incredible work, thank you for keeping us all relatively safe.”

The doctor’s face broke out in a grin. “It’s our absolute honor, General.”

Leia waved him off and slipped out to maintenance to get an update on her quarters. After a night of waiting, she was desperate for a nap, even if it meant unwelcome dreams.

It turned out that her room was more or less put back together, the floor just as icy and salty than it had been before the heating fiasco. Her clothes were still frozen, but the thermal sleeping bag never even got wet, somehow. Leia kicked off her boots and wiggled in, too tired to take off any further layers.

Her dreams were odd, even by her recent standards; Luke held her hand the whole time, and she realized he needed her strength so she held on tighter. He pulled on that inexplicable bond between them. She was hot, too hot, and he explained the twin suns. She turned on her heel and they were suddenly up high in Alderaan’s mountains, which ones she couldn’t even say. Neither of them spoke and Leia felt the strength of Alderaan singing through her, into Luke.

She heard a rustle behind them, could feel her mother and father--

And then her comm beeped, bringing her back to Hoth.

“General, we’re waking up Commander Skywalker in thirty minutes.”

“On my way.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Master Luke, sir, it's so good to see you fully functional again. Artoo expresses his relief also.”

It was always difficult to get a word in edgewise around Threepio’s worrying. Leia leaned against the wall and just basked in the relief that Luke was awake, reclined on a bed in the medbay. It was nice to feel warm, and the meddroid had left.

Han swaggered in, Chewie just behind him. “How ya feeling kid? You don’t look so bad to me.”

Chewie growled in agreement.

“In fact, you look strong enough to pull the ears off a Gundark,” Han continued.

“Thanks to you,” Luke said with a smile.

“That's two you owe me, junior.”

And then he turned to her. Leia felt herself tense at his carefree grin. What he had done with his shared anxiety over Luke, Leia had no idea. He zeroed in on her in a way he hadn’t done since after their fight in the hallway.

“Well, your worship, looks like you managed to keep me around for a little while longer.”

“I had nothing to do with it. General Rieekan thinks it's dangerous for any ships to leave the system until we’ve activated the energy field.”

“That’s a good story. I think you just can't bear to let a gorgeous guy like me out of your sight.”

She eyed the three of them: Chewie with his version of an amused chuckle, Luke looking frustrated--she could feel his irritation rolling off him--and Han looked like he had an idiot’s array up his sleeve.

“I don't know where you get your delusions, laser brain.”

“Laugh it up, fuzz ball,” he said to Chewie, who chortled. “But you didn’t see us alone in the south passage. She expressed her true feelings for me.” He approached, and wrapped an arm around her.

Luke sparked at this (aggravated, protective), but that was _nothing_ compared to the hot flash of rage Leia felt.

“My!- Why you stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf-herder!”

Han began to retreat immediately, but turned at the end of her insult. “Who's scruffy-looking?” He turned to Luke. “You must have hit her pretty close to the mark to get her all riled up like that, huh, kid?”

Luke gave Han a side-eyed glare, but it was Leia he looked to. He could see she had a plan. He had her back, she could feel it just as clearly as if he’d toted a blaster.

“Well, I guess you don't know everything about women yet.” She strolled over to the boys and relying on the trust she had with Luke, kissed him squarely on the mouth. They both knew how it would irritate Han.

When she was done, she glared at Han, then swept imperiously from the room.

True feelings indeed.

Back to work.

 

* * *

 

 

Carlist looked up from his console and called Leia over the moment she entered Command.

“Princess, we have a visitor. We've picked up something outside the base in Zone Twelve, moving East.”

The controller by his side offered, “It’s metal.”

“Then it couldn’t be one of those creatures,” Leia replied, coming to look.

Han was right behind her, always dogging her footsteps. “Could be a speeder, one of ours,” he offered.

“Wait, there’s something very weak comin’ through,” the controller said, boosting the signal.

Threepio stepped up to the control panel and listened to the strange signal. “Sir, I am fluent in over six million forms of communication. This signal is not used by the Alliance. I could be an Imperial code.”

There was a beat as they considered that horror.

Han shattered the moment. “It isn’t friendly, whatever it is. C’mon, Chewie let’s check it out.”

For once, Command was relatively quiet. They were in a holding pattern, waiting to see what Han and Chewie discovered. If it wasn’t the Empire, they could carry on with their missions. If it _was_ , well....

Han’s voice finally crackled through his comm, “I'm afraid there's not much left.”

“What was it?” Leia demanded.

Han replied crisply. “Droid of some kind. I didn't hit it that hard. It must have had a self-destruct....”

“An Imperial probe droid.” A cold thrill went through her.

“It’s a good bet the Empire knows we’re here,” Han agreed.

Carlist was grim. “We’d better start the evacuation.”

“I’ll alert the commanders.” Leia turned to Major Farr. “Contact Home One, we need a rendezvous point, asap.”

They launched themselves into action, waking up the entire base, prioritizing their lists of supplies, gear, heavy equipment. But not personnel. Leia would never intentionally do that, even if some assignments did that work for her. Still. Every life was important, every being worth saving.

Leia slipped into the galley and scooped up a container of hot chocolate mix and, rushing to the hangar, shoved it into the cockpit of Luke’s X-wing. Hot chocolate was low on _her_ list, but not for a hero of the Alliance.

She was back in Command when they got the news: a fleet of star destroyers in sector four.

Carlist didn’t even sound surprised. “We have to hold them until the evacuation is complete. Reroute all power to the deflector shield. Prepare for ground assault.”

Alarms sounded. Troops, ground crews and droids rush to their alert stations, away from their tasks of packing. Armored speeders lined up in attack formation near the main entrance. Leia briefed a group of pilots gathered in the center of the hangar.

Beyond them, Han was doing some frantic welding on the lifters of the _Falcon_.

Leia ignored him as she continued her briefing. “...All troop carriers will assemble at the North Entrance. The heavy transport ships will leave as soon as they've loaded. Only two fighter escorts per ship. The energy shield can only be opened for a short time so you'll have to stay close to the transports.” She was reminded of their snowball fight, weeks ago now, when the stakes were bloody noses and her mild case of frostbite. They were much higher now, and the odds were against them.

A young pilot clarified, “Two fighters against a star destroyer?”

In her practiced princess/general voice, Leia kept control. “The ion cannon will fire several shots to make sure any enemy ships will be out of your flight path. When you’ve gotten past the energy shield, proceed directly to the rendezvous point. Understood?”

There was a chorus of yesses.

There was nothing more to say, except, “Good luck.”

They all scrambled, these fighters to their escorting X-wings. Leia back to Command, to observe the ground assault and manage the troop carriers. She wouldn’t leave until Echo Base was empty.

She never thought about herself in battle - it was like some strange, primal force of herself took over. Her fatigue, her hunger, her emotions all fell away. Luke led Rogue Squadron and found an novel way to take care of the dreaded AT-ATs, bringing great relief to Carlist and the fighters in the trenches. Leia managed the all important evacuation - Luke and Carlist would hold the Empire off as much as they could.

But it didn’t take long for them to suffer heavy losses. The Empire, Darth Vader, were once again on her doorstep.

Leia took in the cold, the salt under her feet. She could imagine Luke scrambling out of his snowspeeder. She could feel rising panic around her, Carlist’s continued steady leadership. She closed her eyes for one brief moment, finally letting her father’s words wash over her, and the unexpected warmth at the memory.

_Did you know, darling girl, that the hydrogen bonds in water molecules strengthen as they freeze, which is how ice is formed? It’s one of the few molecules to grow stronger under such conditions. Most everything else gets more fragile...._

This was her command; even now Leia wouldn’t leave until everyone was gone. _He_ was coming for her, and she had to ensure everyone was safe. She’d tested her mettle against Vader once before, even scraped a victory from it. But she knew _he_ would kill her this time. Hero, martyr, Leia had to make sure everyone was off Hoth first.

And then, out of nowhere, Han appeared by her side, grabbed her arm.

She broke, and ran.


End file.
